Strainer for hatters&#39; tanks.



iov. 20,1900.

Paten I AKEB WHI J. A. DWYER & L

STBAINER FR HATTEBiS TANKS.

(Application led June,- ll, 1900.)

I"lll (No Modal.)

|NVENTOR WITNESSES ilnrrnn Straths- PATENT OFFICE'.

JOHN A. DWYER AND LEIGH VVHI-TTAKER, OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.

STRAINERy FOR HATTERS TANKS.

sPncIFrcA'rroN forming part of Letters Patent No. 662,259, dated Novembei 2o, 1900.

Application filed June 1l, 1900.

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it. known that We, JOHN A. DWYER, a citizen of the United States, and LEIGH WHIT- TAKER, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at South Norwalk, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Strainer for Hatters Tanks, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention has for its object to provide a strainer, or, as it is frequently called, skimmer, for use in the hot-water kettles and tanks used in hat-shops-for example, in connection with dyeing and hat-sizing machinesit being the common practice in sizing to dip the hat-bodies in scalding water, roll a number of them together, and submit the roll of hat-bodies to the action of a sizing-machine, each roll of hat-bodies being u nrolled, dipped, and rerolled a number of times. During these dipping operations particles of fur, long hairs, dac., become detached from the hatbodies, and if they are allowed to accumulate in the Water in the tank in connection with the other impurities that may be in the water soon become a source of serious inconvenience and loss to the manufacturer, as the various impurities, particles of fur, long` hairs, dac., will attach themselves to the hatbodies and be worked into them by the sizing operation and will produce what are commonly known as dags in the hats. In order to obviate this difficulty and prevent the formation of dags in hat-bodies through impurities in the Water, we provide a strainer or skimmer' for hatters tanks so constructed that the current in the tank will carry long hairs and particles of fur as soon as they may become detached from the hat-bodies and other impurities that may be in the Water into the strainer, by which they are retained, the water passing out of the strainer freely both at the bottom and the sides.

In the accompanying` drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a section of a hatters tank, showing the steam-pipe by which it is heated and one of our novel strainers in elevation; Fig. 2, a plan view of the strainer detached, and Fig. 3 is a view of an attaching-clamp detached.

10 denotes the tank, and 11 the steam-su pply pipe, which terminates in a perforated Serial No. 191863. (No model.)

coil 12, lying near the wall of the tank and near the bottom thereof. In practice steam is discharged into the tank through the perforations in the coil, which heats the water in the tank and also causes a strong upward current near the Wall of the tank, which at the surface passes toward the center', as indicated by arrows in the drawings. Owing to the fact that the surface current in the tank is from the wall toward the center, it is of course desirable that a strainer to accomplish the best results be so constructed that as large a volume as possible of the surface currentI pass over the top of the strainer and into it, so as to carry all of the hairs, particles of fur, and other impurities that maybe in the water into the strainer, where they are caught and retained. We have discovered as the result of careful and extended experiments that the best mode of accomplishing the desired result is to provide an approximately cylindrical strainer at the center of the tank. This approximately cylindrical strainer, which as a whole we designate as 13, is necessarily provided with a recess 14 to receive the steam-supply pipe. In practice We have found that if the strainer is made in the form of an inverted frustum of a cone, substantially as shown in the drawings, open at the top and perforated at the sides and bottom,'as at 15, most excellent results will be obtained, as the Water will pass out freely until the perforations become clogged by the accumulation of impurities within the strainer. The strainer may be made of any suitable material-as, for eX- ample, perforated sheet metal or line wirenetting, as preferred. At the top of the strainer and upon the inner side thereof we 'preferably provide a dash plate 1G, over which the water may [low freely, s0 as to prevent the accumulation at the edge of the strainer of any of the impurities in the water. We also preferably extend the walls of recess 14 above the top of the strainer and provide other walls 17, extending above the top of the strainer, in order to prevent strong currents of water from passing entirely over the strainer and to insure that nearly all of the surface current from the wall of the tank towardthe center shall pass into the IOO strainer. As a matter of fact, the Water which forms the upward current at the wall of the tank consists almost entirely of water that has passed through the strainer, leaving its impurities on the inner side thereof, s0 that the body of water in the tank is at all times comparatively free from impurities, eX-

cept as they become detached from hat-bodies as they are dipped, these latter impurities being in turn quickly carried into the strainer, Where they are retained. In practice the strainer is submerged until its upper end is approximately at the water-line, as indicated in the drawings, the exact height at which the strainer may be placed to the best advantage being a matter that can best be determined by the user, subject to the special conditions of use.

Our novel strainer may be attached in place upon the steam-pipe in any suitable and convenient manner. We have shown a socket 18, formed upon one of the walls 17, which is adapted to receive an arm 19, carrying a twopart clamp 20. The members of the clamp are locked upon the pipe by means of bolts 21, one of which passes through the arm. In practice the members of the clamp turn freely on the bolt, so that the operator is enabled to clamp the strainer to variously-curved steamsupply pipes.

22 is a handle which is provided for convenience in attaching the strainer to a pipe or removing it therefrom.

Having thus described our invention, We claim- 1. A strainer for batters tanks made approximately cylindrical and with open top and provided with a recess in one side to receive a steam-supply pipe.

2. A strainer for hatters tanks made approximately cylindrical and provided with a recess in one side to receive a steam-supply pipe, said strainer being open at the top and the sides and bottom thereof being perforated.

3. A strainer for hatters tanks made in the shape of an inverted frustum of a cone and with open top and provided with a recess in one side to receive a steam-supply pipe.

4. A strainer for hatters tanks made approximately cylindrical and provided with a recess in one side to receive a steam-supply pipe, said strainer being open at the top and being provided with a dash-plate over which the water may iiow freely so as to prevent l walls 17, which prevent strong currents from passing over the top of the strainer, substantially as shown for the purpose specified.

6. A strainer for hatters tanks made approximately cylindrical and provided with a recess in one side to receive a steam-supply pipe, said strainer being open at the top and being provided with a dash-plate over which the water may iiow freely and with upwardlyextending Walls 17, which prevent strong cu rrents from passing over the top of the strainer, substantially as shown, for the purpose specified.

7. A strainer for batters tanks made approximately cylindrical and provided with a recess in one side to receive a steam-supply pipe, said strainer being provided with upwardly-extending Walls 17 one of which is provided with a socket 18 to receive the arm of an attaching-clamp. i

8. The combination with an approximately cylindrical strainer having a recess in one side to receive a steam-supply pipe and walls 17, one of which is provided with asocket 18, of a clamp consisting of an arm adapted to engage the socket and two complementary members which are pivoted to the arm and are adapted to engage a steam-supply pipe in any ordinary position.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN A. DWYER. LEIGH WHITTAKER.

Witnesses:

RICHARD H. GOLDEN, EDWARD B. SMITH. 

